APULEIUS and the Golden Ass

Lucius Apuleius lived and wrote in
Latin in Romanized North Africa around the middle of the 2 nd c. A.D. He was
well versed in the popular Greek writing of the time, and shows in all his
prose a strong interest in the supernatural, in Eastern religions, and in
magic. In fact he was accused of casting spells on his wife by her family, and
defended himself in the legal defense, or Apologia which we have. His
interest in Greek philosophy led to the writing of a book of philosophical
extracts, the Florida, an essay on Plato, another on Socrates' theology,
and a translation from a spurious work of Aristotle De Mundo.

But he is known mainly for his Metamorphoses, a prose romantic
novel in eleven books which we have complete, written in an flowery but
engaging and quite readable style modeled on the Greek Romances. However his
vocabulary is large and the reader will often find his nose in the dictionary.
The most famous of the many encapsulated stories is the long account of Cupid
and Psyche, which is amazingly close to the Germanic Cinderella tale.

The Metamorphoses often referred to as The Golden Ass, is
written in a Grecizing style, with fairly involved syntax, couched in a large
vocabulary. These things make Apuleius slightly difficult reading, but the
engaging storytelling and natural flow of ideas leads the student on easily.
Since the Renaissance the book has had a wide following, however it has never
become a basic part of the modern Classical canon of authors, perhaps because
of the novelistic form, the popular interests, including magic, and the
post-Classical style of writing. This is unfortunate, since the Metamorphoses
offers fascinating reading material for intermediate students who are
developing their reading skills. There is a good Loeb edition from Harvard U
Pr.,, the most readily accessible editions for general use, although without
app. crit. or notes.